Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home) chairman and Minister of Economy Naftali Bennett is quitting the Knesset to make room for the return of former Knesset Member Shulamit “Shuli” Moalem-Rafaeli.
Bennett promised earlier this year he would resign in order to allow Moalem to take a seat in the Knesset, and critics of the approval of the Norwegian Law accused Bayit Yehudi’s Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked of sponsoring the law for the sole of purpose of bringing back Moalem.
She was in ninth place on the Bayit Yehudi’s list of candidates and failed to be re-elected in the elections in March because the party won only 8 seats, four less than in the previous Knesset.
Bennett will continue to serve as Cabinet Minister following the Knesset’s adoption of the Norwegian Law that permits a minister to continue to serve even if he resigns from the legislature.
Moalem, who was a nurse before turning to politics, was extremely popular among party supporters.
She served in the IDF as a teacher.
Her husband Moshe was one of the 73 victims in the mid-air helicopter crash in the Galilee during the Second Lebanon War.